


A Christmas Ellie

by lmontyy



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Christmas, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Implied Sexual Content, Light Smut, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Romance, TLOU, The Last of Us - Freeform, dina trying to make ellie happy no matter what, happy holidays!, holiday fic, the last of us 2, the last of us part 2 - Freeform, the last of us part ii, the last of us part two, tlou 2, tlou part 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-19 01:23:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22002985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lmontyy/pseuds/lmontyy
Summary: Ellie has a lot of trouble enjoying the holidays, and Dina has been trying to get Ellie to lighten up for quite a while. When she goes to Joel for an idea, she finds herself with a plan that she is sure will get Ellie to embrace winter and the holidays for years to come.
Relationships: Dina & Ellie (The Last of Us), Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 162





	A Christmas Ellie

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry for how late this is! I wanted to get this out a lot sooner, but I've been bed-ridden with some terrible illness for nearly four days. I caught something nasty right after Christmas, and for the entirety of the day after I could barely stand to look at light. But I tried my best to get this out ASAP, and here it is!

Ever since Dina moved into her home with Ellie on the corner of the second farthest road in Jackson County just under a year ago in the middle of the harsh winter, she’d noticed a plethora of things about her favorite roommate – who just so happened to be her girlfriend, on top of it.

She realized that Ellie just wasn’t a very fun person. Like, at all.

Any time a holiday came about – whether it was Easter, or Passover, or Valentine’s Day, or even Halloween, Ellie showed little to no interest in participating. And for whatever reason, the holidays were no different.

Dina loved to go all out – Christmas trees, menorahs, bells and whistles, wreaths and ribbons, candles, stockings, dreidels, lights, the whole shebang. There wasn’t a single room in her old house, or her new one with Ellie, that didn’t have the festivities swallowing it. Everywhere you turned, there was something.

Regardless of their house being covered in holiday vomit, thanks to Dina, Ellie came in and out as if nothing was different. She hardly made any reference to it whatsoever. It was as if the tree that was almost double her size wasn’t standing fresh in the living room, shining out the window, or the menorah on the sill wasn’t decorated around several other candles and Hanukkah gelt. 

It truly perplexed Dina – why was Ellie so cold and resistant to the holidays? She never knew the answer, and she was afraid she’d never really get one either.

On the other hand, Joel was a little more open to it. He set up his own little Christmas tree by the window, hung cute little red ornaments from the branches, wrapped it in a pretty gold ribbon and topped it with a nice glass star. He wasn’t a very excitable person to begin with, but he definitely did try and make an effort to be expressive during the holidays.

Jackson County as a whole was a very festive place, as they hung on to whatever traditions and sources of happiness and hope that they could. Everyone got excited and generous around the holiday time, and everyone’s spirits were definitely lifted. The crowds of the infected and the constant dangers of the cult or other scavengers looming over them were no match for the communitywide optimism and cheer in the middle of the wintertime.

Joel’s brother, Tommy, who ran Jackson, was always festive himself. His love for the holidays and the festivities was a huge contribution to attitude of Jackson during the twelfth month. December was always cheerful, thanks to him. He had pressured Joel into introducing the idea of Christmas back into his life, and even with some resistance, he was able to bring even Joel back to that hopeful outlook, one that had, apparently, been very prevalent before the outbreak. Dina had hoped that Joel’s change of mind would rub off on Ellie, but, unfortunately, her stoic and chilly demeanor never faltered.

There was only so much Dina could do to bring Ellie into the spirit, and she knew it wouldn’t be resolved with a single conversation or act of festivity.

But Dina had a few tricks up her sleeve.

***

Every year on the weekend before Christmas, the young population of Jackson, which included all of Dina and Ellie’s friends, plus a bunch of older teenagers like them, threw a huge party in the abandoned cabin on the darkest end of the community, by the farthest corner they could find.

The cabin, once owned by an older man that passed away just over two years ago, was left untouched by the community, as they had no reason to use it. It sat there, awaiting rental or inhabitance for years, but never got it. It wasn’t the favorable end of Jackson – it was darker there, a few steps too far from the rest of the houses. It was the quiet end of Jackson, and truthfully, most people who came to reside in Jackson didn’t want to be anywhere near the quiet any longer than they previously had been before entering the gates. The outside world had satisfied their need for peace and quiet long before they set foot within the walls.

So, it stood empty. Vacant as could be, and the perfect place for the irresponsible, rebellious, pleasure-seeking teens of Jackson County to release every ounce of tension and pent up stress on the most festive weekend of the year.

And by that, Dina meant they would get blackout wasted.

There was nowhere you could turn that you wouldn’t see alcohol, weed, or any other vice littered across the house. Booze spilled across the rugs and the floorboards, used joints rolled into the corners of the home and under the furniture, turned away and forgotten in favor of a new roll. Music leaked through the cracks in the wood, where the logs connected the walls, and pushed its way through the glass windows. The floor shook with each grind of the beat through the speakers. Teens stampeded the ground, causing the entire house to tremble, and it was if the roof would collapse on them any second.

It was often at these events that, in the midst of intoxication and recklessness, you would find many of the teens releasing their pent-up tension in alternative ways. If you were lucky, you’d stumble upon a girl being sat upon the counter with someone pressed up against her, sloppily making out and feeling each other up. On other occasions, you’d find that the doors of the bedrooms on the ground and second floor were closed and locked.

And that’s where they were that night.

They had spent the entire night downstairs with their friends, swallowing cans of beer and bottles of whiskey and gin, partying and dancing, making out on the counters and the against the walls. They were allowing all of the constant stress to be released, and despite receiving many presents from her friends, the only present she was truly cherishing was that feeling of Ellie kissing and tasting up her body.

The bed was old and rickety, but it was comfortable. When Dina had dragged Ellie past the door and locked it, Ellie immediately turned on her, throwing her up against the locked door just like she had pushed her against the walls of the living room, succumbing to the lusty, intoxicated want without a second thought or a care in the world.

But now they were on the bed, Dina’s back pressed against the sheets, her legs hanging off the side. Ellie stood, but leaned over her, her tongue and lips trailing up Dina’s soft, supple stomach, leaving marks and wetness along her skin. Her back was arching then, the booze in her system just enhancing how good it felt to have Ellie’s mouth against an intimate section of her body, one that was usually covered and secluded from everyone else, for her body was Ellie’s and Ellie’s only.

Her hot, wet breath sighing in lust and exhaustion against her bare abdomen had Dina reeling, the goosebumps rising on every inch of her skin. The shirt that Ellie had pulled up to gain access to that area of her body was now just squeezing the life out of her – she wanted to be free with Ellie. She didn’t want Ellie to stop, either.

Dina couldn’t help but moan and grab Ellie’s hair as she continued the ministrations against her. Her legs were wrapped around Ellie’s waist, moving as Ellie moved up and down her body.

Everything was a haze – when Ellie came back up and firmly pressed her lips to hers, Dina could barely register all of the pleasure, all of the sparks rippling down her spine, the fire rushing through her veins and spreading throughout her body. If this was the way she could get Ellie to enjoy the holidays, she was _more_ than happy to help with that.

Ellie was ravenous with want. She spared Dina no mercy as she started moving her hips into hers in a slow, seductive movement, prompting Dina’s mouth to open, and for sounds to struggle out with every upstroke of her hips into her core, the groans choked out of her as she gripped her girlfriend tighter and tighter, getting more and more lost in the dizzying air around them, and the smell and sense of pure, unwarranted need for each other.

“You enjoying yourself, ma’am?” Dina whispered hotly into Ellie’s ear as Ellie’s hips continued to move. “You’re making a mess of yourself.”

It was true; Ellie’s outfit – which was a navy blue button-down with a nice pair of black jeans – was completely disheveled, the buttons coming undone, thanks to a sly Dina, her once neat and organized dress shirt becoming wrinkled and creased. Ellie’s tantalizing collarbone had just started to peek out from beneath the V-shape formed by the two top buttons being undone.

“I am,” Ellie groaned out, a smirk coming to her lips, pressed against Dina’s neck. A particular brush of their hips together had them both sucking in a harsh breath. “Are you?” She struggled to say following her recovery from the pleasure that spiked through her body.

“Very much so,” Dina purred seductively, fingers walking up her chest and landing against her jaw and cheek. “Definitely can’t complain about the current position we’re in right now. You sure can’t keep your hands to yourself, huh?”

“Look who’s talking,” she scoffed back, Dina only accentuating her point as she dragged both hands down her chest, running over the collar of her shirt and down the bumps of fabric, throwing her head back with a sigh as Ellie continued to rock her hips into hers.

Dina smiled hungrily. “Too bad we’re not at home right now. I miss our bed and I miss you doing this to me in it.”

“Who’s stopping us right now?” She suggested mischievously, only making Dina dizzier with want.

Dina’s hips started involuntarily hitting back against Ellie’s faster, and she felt the pure need for her take over completely. She didn’t care how reckless she was being anymore, she wanted to go faster. She wanted to feel Ellie faster and more desperately.

Sitting up slightly, she ripped the shirt up and over her head, leaving her clad in a bra and jeans, their hips still meeting forcefully, faster now, and she felt the wetness growing and it was so uncomfortable – she wanted Ellie to relieve it.

“Good point, baby,” Dina mused, the hot breath against her ear making Ellie shiver under Dina’s touch.

They loved to get lost in each other. Usually, they saved these things for when they were home, alone, secluded from everyone else. Alcohol typically brought out the best and worst sides of them.

Dina felt herself slipping further and further away beneath Ellie, and when Ellie’s fingers played against her jean button and pulled it down, she felt the heat of her tongue trace the edge of her panties, and that’s when she drowned in her lust.

***

Finishing their rendezvous and stumbling home in the early, early morning hours, drunk as anything, only to fall asleep in each other’s arms had no procession in Dina’s mind. She hardly remembered her intimacy with Ellie, let alone getting home. It was only after a few conscious minutes that hazy memories faded back, making her grip her head with pain, no help from that oh-so lovely hangover.

Ellie was a mess in the bed next to her – sprawled out, hair a mess, button up wrecked with wrinkles and crevices from Dina’s tugging, neck full of those wonderful bruises Dina loved to leave as marks of her affection. She was fast asleep, snoring away, covers bundled up and all over the place.

She didn’t want to wake her, but she had questions for her, she had inquiries – she wanted to know what Ellie needed to enjoy the upcoming holidays.

While Dina did celebrate Hanukkah, and even though it had just started the night before, she prioritized Christmas simply because of Ellie’s background, Joel’s background, and the town majority. Where she came from, Judaism was very prominent. But here, in the little town of Jackson, Wyoming, deep in the mountains covered over in snow, Jewish folk were few and far between. But it never stopped Dina from lighting her candles every night or baking her favorite meals that she learned from her mother when they still lived in Detroit.

“Ellie,” she whispered gently, place a small hand on a built shoulder.

She stirred ever so slightly, humming in what seemed to present as irritation, before twitching her face and going still.

Dina rolled her eyes in amusement. “Ellie, love,” her whisper was harsher now, and she gave that shoulder the smallest of shoves. “Come on, it’s morning.”

Ellie gave a frustrated groan, and tried to fully roll over, but Dina caught her.

“Let’s go, sleepyhead,” she urged with a chuckle.

She groaned again, but finally gave in. Stretching her arms up and wiping her eyes with the corners of her fist, those beautiful forested eyes opened up to the world around her, the sunlight peering in from their bedroom window bringing those eyes to a green, lovely life. The darkness marked under her eyes completely exposed her from last night’s events, and when she gripped her head suddenly, it was just too obvious.

“Ouch,” she muttered, voice monotonal and raspy from the long pause of slumber.

“You too, huh?” Dina kissed her girlfriend good-morning.

Ellie sniffled in the cold morning’s wetness, sitting up and wiping her eyes once more. “Can’t it just be summer again, already?” She whined childishly; her complaints topped with a shiver in the freezing air.

“What’s wrong with winter?” Dina demanded with a curt sigh. “Isn’t the snow beautiful?”

“Not beautiful enough to make me want it to be negative forty degrees in my own bedroom,” she retorted pessimistically.

“Not even the holidays?”

She scoffed in response, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed, shivering violently for a second time. The first place she headed was the closet, but Dina stayed watching her upright on the bed.

“Ellie,” she sighed.

With a curious look, her girlfriend turned her head in her direction, face met with confusion at Dina’s defeated, sorrowful look.

“Was last night not even enough to make you see the holidays a little differently? You know… like, maybe, enjoy them?”

She didn’t answer for a moment, taking in Dina’s lament and soaking it in like a kitchen sponge in their washer downstairs.

“It’s just not my favorite time of year, babe,” Ellie reassured. “Winter just kinda sucks for me.”

“I wish you would tell me why,” Dina sighed zealously.

Ellie winced and looked away briefly, eyes closed and face scrunched. There was so much emotion being hidden behind that sweet, childlike face. Each scar told a story, one she knew she was trying so hard to swallow. She would fight down her demons, ones that sprouted from each memory she tried more than anything not to conjure up.

“It’s just a lot, D,” Ellie shook her head, reopening those beautiful eyes which held sorrow now, and looked at her with utmost honesty. Utmost tragedy. “It’s nothing personal, nothing at all, really. I just haven’t had… the best experiences during this time of year. So, I try and just get through it without holding onto anything.”

“Okay,” Dina’s voice lifted suddenly. “But what if you embraced the holidays a little more? Celebrated Christmas with me, maybe? How do you know it won’t help you move past some shitty memories by making ones you can cherish?”

Again, no answer.

“You don’t know until you try, right?” She suggested, hope surging through her, ripping through her voice.

Ellie sighed and turned her whole body toward her girlfriend. “I appreciate you trying to help,” she took a few steps closer to Dina, throwing a new shirt and jeans over her shoulder. “I really do. I know you just want me to be happy.” Placing a hand on the foot of the bed, she pressed a long, sweet kiss to Dina’s cheek. “You’re the best, always. This is just something I’d rather get through without anything holding me back to it. Getting attached to the holidays would just do more harm than good. I don’t mind not celebrating. It’s torturous sometimes to see everyone else celebrating, but I’m doing good without them so far, right? What’s the use in making myself feel worse?”

Defeat hit her like a tanker. She was just ready to give up. Despite how depressing her house felt during the happiest time of the year, and despite how much she wanted that to change, it seemed inevitable. Ellie wouldn’t open up, not even for her.

“Okay,” Dina’s voice was broken with failure.

And that was the last of the conversation. Both Ellie and Dina went about their mornings. Showering, changing, brushing up, breakfast as usual. Dina helped Ellie pack for her day-long patrol, and it wasn’t until she was out the door that Dina’s mind brightened with an idea, and she could only call herself a goddamn genius for having it.

***

_Knock, knock._

Joel’s house was quaint, smaller than theirs, but not by much. The shudders were dark green, clashing against the metallic-colored, solid panels. Everything was quiet surrounding his little house, the beautiful flower pots lined up on his porch, once full of roses and daffodils and bluebells, sat sadly on the planks, waiting for the snow to melt, the wind to return, the temperature to rise so that the buds could sprout again, feeding off of the sun and the rain that fell like angels from the sky.

The door opened in moments, the old creak startling Dina out of her thoughts of the spring and the summer.

“Hey, Dina,” he greeted with a polite smile. “What can I do for ya?”

He stood back to allow the girl entry, holding the heavy door open for her and shutting it gently behind her as she came in.

“Hey, Joel.”

The living room opened up in front of her. It was nicely lit by the sunshine emerging through the main window, the lights of the Christmas tree lighting up corners even the sun couldn’t reach. On the fireplace, three stockings, one read ‘E’, one read ‘J’, and one read ‘D’. The fire had just been previously lit, perhaps over the night, as the ashes sat in sparkling embers in the pit. The stone was stained with the ashen gray from the remnants.

“You went harder on the decorations this year than you usually do, I see.”

Dina chuckled, grinning as she took in the efforts of the hardened man, the festive strings and lights tickling along the ridges connecting roof and wall, on the bookshelf by the stairs, a row of bruised – but still collectable – nutcrackers sat ominously, joyously surveying the room before them. The railing of the stairs was wrapped in fuzzy red and green streamers, intertwining and overlapping in perfect pattern, accentuating the festive atmosphere. It was so minor, but so important. On the table beside the loveseat, Joel had replaced his lamp with a glass snowman candle holder, a lavender candle placed within, setting a pretty mood over the seating area of his home. The small Santa Claus statue she knew he kept stored away in the corner with all of the other decorations that he usually stuffed into one of the many cabinets was now out and about, sitting happily beside the used fireplace.

Joel scoffed; his breath laced in his own titter. “I guess you can say so,” he rubbed the back of his head in the cutest way, but Dina had already seen this loving fatherly side of him. She couldn’t help but smile. “Can I get ya anything?” He offered sweetly.

“No, no, that’s okay,” Dina assured. “I gotta talk to you about something.” She said, wasting no time, sitting down comfortably on the couch, arm resting on the armrest, her body turned to face over the side of the rest, eyes directed at Joel. “About Ellie.”

“Oh, boy,” he huffed. “Here we go.” He took a seat on a comfy little chair beside the table beneath the mirror just beside the kitchen and dining room. “What happened this time?”

An amused laugh passed her lips. “It’s nothing that bad,” she secured. “Just… what the fuck is her deal about the holidays?” Her frustration was clear, but she didn’t care, and she knew Joel wouldn’t care, either. “It’s like she wants to pretend winter doesn’t even exist or something. I’ve been trying to get her to come to parties, come to town meets, help decorate with me.” She sighed, taking a breath. “I figured you were a good person to come to about this, since you’ve known her way longer than I have, you know? I love the holidays, and she just _hates_ them. And she won’t even tell me why.”

Joel sighed deeply, heavily, almost sorrowfully. “Ellie is… complicated.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Look, Dina,” he readjusted himself in his seat, leaning over his body, forearms resting against his thighs, fingers merged between each other. “Ellie’s been through a shit ton of stuff. Probably some you won’t even be able to understand. Now, I understand your concerns, really, I do. It’s frustratin’, believe me, I know better than anyone. The only thing you gotta do is be patient.”

“I’ve been trying to be, Joel,” she released an exasperated sigh. “I just don’t know how to help, or what to do.”

“Just ease her into it,” he cut her off. “I’m sure she’ll come around.” He was silent for a moment, as if he hesitated saying something. “Winter ain’t her favorite time of year, I know that. We had a run in with a group a couple ‘a years ago. They were some ravenous bastards, lemme tell ya. No mercy for anyone, not even Ellie, even though she was no more than fourteen, fifteen years old?” He guessed. “They did some pretty awful things to her; she was different for a mighty long time after that. Just go easy on her, okay?”

It took a moment to process it all. But Dina understood. She loved Ellie, after all. Ellie had become her world since she entered Jackson. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt her.

“Yeah, okay, I will,” she felt the defeat rise within her. “I just wish I knew _something_ to do…”

Joel prodded at his beard. “You said you tried throwing her parties?”

That was when the lightbulb went off in her head.

“No… no, I’ve only _brought_ her to them, never thrown her one,” her voice began to pick up with hope and joy. “That’s a great idea, though!” The excitement shocked through her body. “Joel, you’re not doing anything for Christmas, right?”

“Few people are. Ellie’s working until six that day. She’s got a border run to do.”

Joel always knew Ellie’s schedule. Whenever she was out working, he always knew when and where and what she was doing. His overprotectiveness was entirely endearing.

“How about Tommy and Maria and Little Kevin?”

“Maria’s always off watching for Little Kevin,” Joel reminded her gently. “I’m sure Tommy’s takin’ off to be with his family that day. He’s usually doing office work, checkin’ in on everyone and helpin’ out with jobs. He never really has a set schedule.”

“Perfect,” Dina’s voice sparked with triumph. “What if, this Christmas, we gather Tommy, Maria, Little Kevin, you and me, and we surprise her with a holiday party at our house. We have a big dinner, watch holiday movies, bake cookies, give her gifts, and just be a big family for the night?”

She had never seen the big, broad man turn so soft at anyone or anything. The words leaving her mouth turned him from a cold, fresh pack of butter, to melted mush in seconds. Never had she seen such a bright, genuine smile from the older man. The thought of his daughter, brother, nephew, his family coming together for the holiday, all to surprise Ellie and spend the night together – Dina never saw a look of such tranquility in any restless soul like his.

“Ready the troops, Commander Dina,” he teased. “The plan is a-go.”

***

They had spent so long readying Dina and Ellie’s house for the party while the latter was out doing her job. Even on Christmas Day, they didn’t rest. Maria and Joel worked on preparing a big dinner, consisting of a large chicken, broccoli and cauliflower mixed with vegetables, small-cut ribs with barbecue sauce, potato and egg salad, and the typical Caesar salad beside grapes. Tommy and Dina finished touching up every decoration they could, hanging more from the beams and the doorframes, anywhere they possibly could find. The living room was drowning in the holidays. Little Kevin played on the floor in front of the couches and coffee table, running a toy truck across the floorboards with his hand, his toy giraffe sitting quietly alongside him.

Smelling the food and seeing the decorations and all of the gifts they brought for Ellie – Joel, of course, had to spoil his little girl – it filled Dina to the brim with joy and content. The fireplace was lit beside the tree, and Little Kevin warmed himself behind the protective cover.

When they finally finished everything on Dina’s checklist, they were able to sit back and wait, basking in each other’s company and exchanging laughs and silly stories and casual conversation. Ellie’s family was her own, and she wouldn’t want it any other way.

While Maria and Dina sat on the couch together, the two girls always being so close in nature, sharing gruesome stories and laughing at the misfortune of others, Tommy stood guard at the window, keeping lookout for the girl in question. The sunset light beautifully lit the room, Tommy’s dark silhouette painting the rug. He kept one knee propped up on the sofa, one hand on the back, and his head switched places from the family to the brutal cold outside, where they expected Ellie to come stumbling in any moment. Joel sat with his legs outstretched and Little Kevin between them, petting the little boy’s hair as he continued to play gently with his toys.

“So, this was your idea, then?” Maria asked her, amusedly. Dina snapped from her thoughts, taking in the grinning girl before her.

“Well, yeah,” she shrugged. “Had it not been for Joel mentioning it, though, it never would’ve come to mind.”

“Good job, knucklehead,” Tommy remarked, eyes fixated on the window, but that smirk was palpable.

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious,” Joel retorted sarcastically, but just as playfully. “This was all Dina’s doing. I suggested it, but she put it together.”

“How the hell did you get all those gifts for her, anyway?” Maria suddenly asked, her gaze turning to her brother-in-law. “And what even _are_ they? There’s at least four or five of them.”

Joel shrugged with a snarky grin. “You go on enough patrols like I do, you come across some neat stuff.”

“Oh, you cryptic asshole,” Tommy huffed.

“Hey,” Joel scolded. “Language. There are ladies and a child present.”

“Since when the hell did you start carin’ about what ladies think of you?” Tommy turned to look sharply at his brother, a disbelieving grin plastered across his face, hanging just below narrowed eyes.

“Pay attention, morons,” Maria barked; her voice cut through them like a hot knife through butter, like a mediator at an intense, failing session of therapy. “Both of you.”

When Tommy turned, she heard his keen inhale, and suddenly his next words were: “Alert! She’s coming! Code red!”

Dina rushed then to the window, not because she didn’t believe Tommy, but because her own excitement fueled her feet, wanted that clarity. Joel and Maria flinched and moved into position, with Joel lifting Little Kevin up into the air to hold, and Maria, with two hands on the back of the couch, she propped herself up and waited. Tommy waited beside her, standing, and Dina ran for the opening at the door.

Jitters crawled up and down her spine, she felt the excitement bouncing her toes and lifting her up. All of the planning and the hope she’d stored for this little party, all of the heartache she went through watching Ellie suffer, all the happiness she felt from seeing her smile all built up into this moment – the stereotypical “moment of truth” – and when she heard the lock click and the doorknob turn, everything stopped within her.

It took Ellie a moment to even notice, she walked in, made eye contact with Dina, turned, but immediately looked back, as if she’d been lost in thought and startled, as if she’d been focused and unaware, she double took and suddenly her eyes were back at hers, confused as to why Dina was standing right there, feet from the door, with the biggest smile on her face, bouncing on her tip-toes.

But it didn’t take her long to turn her head at the overpowering lights coming at her from her left, and her eyes widened and face dropped when she saw her family standing there, smiles as big as Dina’s, all just awaiting her return to the home. The shocked confusion only grew on her face, but she saw Ellie’s body physically rest seeing Dina and everyone there with her, like just the mere sight of them all together brought her peace and tranquility and safety.

“What…” that perplexed, innocent face switched between Dina and the four figures in the living room. “What are you guys doing here?”

“It’s Christmas, dummy!” Tommy threw his arms up with a smile. “We’re here to party!”

Ellie’s face didn’t change as she watched him, only slowly did a small grin start to appear on her lips.

“Yeah, what did you think, we’re just gonna let you sulk at home for another year?” Maria teased kindly.

“What about the party in town?” She urged. “You’re not gonna go there? You go every year. You throw it, Uncle Tommy.”

“Nah,” he brushed the air and scrunched his face. “They can manage without me.”

When Little Kevin fussed in Joel’s arms, waving his little truck toy around, Ellie’s smile grew immediately and her body sunk in peace.

“Okay,” she murmured.

“We cooked for you, kiddo,” Joel stepped forward, holding Little Kevin in one hand, and placing the other on Ellie’s shoulder. “There’s a buffet fit for a queen–” he glanced at Dina. “–two queens–” he turned back to her, “in the kitchen.”

“God, Joel, you sure know how to treat me like a queen,” Tommy’s snarky joke came with a nudging of their shoulders as he passed by to reach the kitchen.

“Oh, shut up, jackass,” he glared after him, a small grin forming after when he turned back to Ellie and he heard Maria giggle as she followed her husband into the wonderful-smelling kitchen.

“Come on,” Dina flashed Ellie the sweetest, most genuine smile she could muster as Joel turned to follow his brother and sister-in-law.

Ellie reciprocated the smile, pure happiness behind those canopied eyes. “Okay.”

***

The night was long and plentiful with everyone around. The house fit perfectly for every one of them. Night fell shortly after Ellie had walked in. The dinner was bountiful and nourishing, Joel’s chicken seasoned to perfection, with Maria’s vegetables and salad soft and textured in the loveliest way. They put on the famous pre-apocalypse movie _Elf_ on while they shared the cookies they baked just after dinner, Little Kevin eating nearly half the batch on his own.

When Ellie got to open her gifts, she’d never seen her so happy, not in winter, at least. Joel got her a brand-new hunting jacket, Timberland boots for the snow, a new lamp with an oddly familiar logo of a firefly on it – almost as if it were some kind of souvenir – and new, crafted bow and arrow with her initials carved into it. Tommy got her a set of new flannels with a beanie, and Maria got her a fuzzy blanket for the couch. Little Kevin made her a painting of her tattoo – drawn like a typical five-year old – but with Ellie’s name, accompanied with a heart next to it.

And Dina got her one item. Dina gifted her the special Hamsa bracelet she always wore.

As they laid in bed, they both stared up at the ceiling. They were silent, the comfort of the previous events and festive night laying comfortably over them. It was dark, but the bright moonlight peering in and accentuating the darkest corners of the room, painting their features a milky silver.

“It means ‘good luck’ or ‘good fortune’ and protection,” Dina whispered suddenly. “Remember that night you woke up with that nightmare? That you were terrified one day you might go out and something would happen and you would never come back and I would be left here, alone and completely unsure of what happened to you?”

Ellie’s nod was heard by a curt rustling of the pillow.

“I want you to have that,” Dina said. “I want you to always have a piece of me with you. When you go out, I want you to look down and see me there, know I’m protecting you.” She paused. “Knowing that I love you, no matter where you go or what you do.”

She heard a sniffle from beside her, and she immediately turned. Ellie had her hand over her face, and she was crying into her palm.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Dina whispered sweetly. She moved and wrapped her arms around Ellie, her head falling in her neck. “It’s okay, love.”

“No, I know,” she whispered back through a sob. Dina knew – she was overwhelmed and emotional. “I’m fine.”

Silence fell over them again. A long pause before Ellie spoke again.

“Thank you. For everything,” she murmured, head turning to cry into Dina’s thick, black hair. “Thank you so much.”

“I love you, Ellie.”

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> This is another of the Tumblr requests I received for these two.
> 
> My tumblr handle is @lmontyy, and I take any and all requests, (so long as they're not unreasonable or crazy!) but I'm very easygoing when it comes to writing, and do enjoy writing for others. Any and all questions or inquiries may be directed to my inbox here or on tumblr. :)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!


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